Turf Show Times
The Rams head coach opened up on the Fitz & Whit podcast Tuesday
After weeks of speculation, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay appeared on the Fitz & Whit podcast Tuesday to give some clarity on the Matthew Stafford contract issues and trade rumors, while providing a better understanding of the team’s thought process. McVay made it clear that the team wants Stafford back first-and-foremost, but he is also trying to work through the situation with both short and long-term plans in mind.
First, McVay opened up by praising his quarterback, reiterating his point that the team does hope that Stafford will continue to lead the Rams into the 2025 season.
“At the end of the day, nobody was right or wrong. And then, ultimately, you’re saying there’s a ton of interest because this guy’s an incredible player. There’s no discrepancy on us wanting him to continue to lead the way and be our quarterback,” said McVay.
As the interview continued though, McVay became a bit more diplomatic, diving deeper into why LA would even consider trading Stafford coming off an NFC divisional round appearance.
“The interesting and the challenging dilemma and dynamics within this are, ‘Hey, how do you continuously as a head coach look at the short term and the long term and be able to figure out what does that really look like?’ There is no dispute,” McVay said. “Let’s not get it twisted in regarding to anybody wanting him to be our quarterback. Now, there’s layers to it. You have to be able to say, ‘Hey, how do we continuously build? How do we support him? How do we make sure that he’s getting what is his worth relative to those things?’
While McVay does make it clear for an additional time that there is no dispute from anyone about not wanting him to be the team’s quarterback, his acknowledgement of taking the long term plans into consideration is very telling. It shows that this is not just a negotiating tactic by the Rams, and it seems if push comes to shove, the team would consider a move off of their veteran quarterback if they felt it was truly the best path for a successful future.
Stafford is reportedly looking for at least $50 million per season, but would be willing to take a hometown discount to stay in Los Angeles. The problem is the Rams don’t seem to want to pay his current contract, let alone want give him a significant bump per season. NFL Network’s Peter Schrager, who has some close ties to the Rams franchise, spoke on Good Morning Football about what he’s heard:
“He (Matthew Stafford) wants to be paid more than $50 million. They (the LA Rams) have given the agent, Jimmy Sexton, one of the best agents in all of football . . . the freedom to seek out what might be some teams that would be of interest and if those teams would pay him....
